All the parts for my bike came from the shop Sheldon Brown worked at, this is really sad – a maker writes in –

This is primarily a piece of sad news and secondarily a link to an awesome maker’s site. Sheldon Brown recently passed away due to a heart attack. Sheldon has been famous and admired by cycling enthusiasts all over the world for his cheerful, helpful personality, his willingness to spread his knowledge, his sense of humor and his amazing site full of bicycle bodging / modding / making / maintaining information. He’ll be sorely missed. I feel that many makers will know of Sheldon and his website already and those who do not would find his site tremendously useful.

Most of what I know about bicycle mechanics, I’ve learned from his articles. I’ve always admired his writings. They were simple and straightforward – the words of a very knowledgeable and generous man.

May he rest in peace.

Krazmo

Sheldon was my very favoritest writer on the subject of bicycles. His articles and essays were both informative and frequently hilarious. I especially liked how he focused on the practical side of bicycling and eschewed the sort of hype and silliness one frequently encounters in the mainstream biking media.

Thanks, Sheldon!

tastewar

How sad. Like so many others, I never met Sheldon, but enjoyed and appreciated his writing, both for its technical content and his humorous style.

Alan Dove

Bummer. My condolences to the family and his co-workers. On a more selfish note, I dearly hope someone maintains his unique Web essays and keeps them online. They’re a priceless trove of wisdom, and preserving them for all to use would be a perfect way to honor this man.

Jake Strait

His web site has made the world a better place to bicycle in. Godspeed.

ksmith

Sheldon was one of the greatest minds when it came to practical cycling knowledge. There are several times I’ve lost myself for hours in his articles. His website was always the first place I’d check when I ran in to a bind, or even if I was just looking for some inspiration for a new project. He will be sorely missed by the cycling community, may he rest in peace.

jps

Holy cow! I loved this guy’s website! I kept telling myself I was going to build a frame based on his tutorials someday.

RIP. He will be sorely missed.

Don Hersey

Sad. Great, great, great, great guy!

scathontiphat

So so sad :(

I loved that website, and his advice was always so helpful. When embarking on crazy bicycle contraption ideas, I would often email him asking about parts and his thoughts on them. And he would always respond with useful advice.

may he rest in peace. The world will miss him dearly.

Chris NYC

This man took the time to answer every question I’ve had over the years about bike building. He ran an honest and dependable business. My condolences go out to his family.

RIP Sheldon

Don Hersey

Sheldon was no ‘weight weenie.’ In modern (carbon fiber, Ti, ScAl) times, this took great courage and parsimony. He gave very practical advice even though his knowledge was vast. He was a wonderful advocate of the spirit of cycle touring. A family-oriented man who was a friend of humanity at-large as well. This is a sad day, indeed.

acidrain69

Keep on riding Sheldon, my next one is dedicated to you. Found his site years ago when I started doing my own maintenance. Has always been a great resource.

Damien Sweet

I’ll miss his writing style, his joy in what he knew & loved, and his authoritative & very useful writings on bikes.
Vale Sheldon

Austringer

I last found myself looking at Sheldon’s site when I picked a 30+ year old Jeunet up off the curb on trash day. He probably had as much useful information on that bike as the rest of the web put together. His Real-Man saddle April fools joke (a vaguely bicycle seat shaped rock) is my wallpaper for a week or two every spring.

Would that we could all be half as helpful and half as amusing as Sheldon Brown.

Sheldon your are sorely missed!! Thanks for all your love and knowledge!

klaus

My condolences go to the family and friends of Sheldon. Many thousands probably never had the pleasure of meeting him personally, but his life’s passion is forever revered by the incredible website he built. Thank you for your wonderful contribution to humanity.